Posts Tagged IT Support

Outsourcing certain aspects of your business is a choice that almost all business owners are faced with the most obvious benefit being the cost-cutting that this option offers. With outsourcing being available for nearly every IT function, right from computer networking to online marketing, and everything in between, it is possible to significantly cut down on your workforce by choosing to outsource. Here is a look at the benefits, risks, and rewards offered by IT outsourcing:

The Benefits:

Outsourcing helps to eliminate the costs associated with hiring, managing, and training an employee force, as well as providing employees with benefits like health insurance, employment taxes, retirement plans, etc.

Another benefit offered by outsourcing is that it enables business owners to focus on core business aspects.

By choosing to outsource, you can opt for companies that specialize in the area you need, giving you the benefit of collective skills from experienced IT professionals.

Outsourcing also helps to save time, by allowing employees to focus on what they were hired for, instead of having to manage tasks that an outsourced employee can perform much more efficiently.

The Risks:

Outsourcing is accompanied with data confidentiality and disaster recovery concerns.

Laying off employees due to an outsourced workforce might result in reduced employee morale at the workplace, as employees begin to worry about their job being at risk as well.

Many outsourced companies might require you to sign a multi-year contract or download their software, which could result in reduced flexibility.

The Rewards:

With software and hardware in the IT industry becoming obsolete by the minute, outsourcing is a good way to allow business functions to be handled by a company that can offer you access to the latest technology.

Outsourced companies (for example company providing outsourced computer networking) have core competencies to focus on, which makes it possible for them to hire a workforce that is well-qualified, trained and experienced in performing a particular function.

The financial rewards offered by IT outsourcing range from lower overhead expenses and bulk purchasing to leasing options for software and hardware, resulting in a significant amount of cost-cutting for businesses.

With the benefits, risks and rewards associated with outsourcing being evident, it is important to ensure that you have the framework essential to effectively manage an outsourced workforce, before opting for IT outsourcing.

We at Centex Technologies provide complete solutions for computer network management, litigation support coding, medical billing, web development and SEO. For more information, call us at – (855) 375-9654

Computers are a major part of any office or institution today. In fact, I do not think people can imagine office without computers anymore. It has become such an integral part of everyone’s lives. A computer network is necessary in most offices as it supplements sharing between computers and simplifies other tasks too. A lot of people prefer to set up the computer network in their office without the assistance of any trained professional. Doing so is absolutely fine but there are a few common mistakes people make, which everyone should be weary off:

Choosing the wrong hardware/software:
There dozens of choices in the market when it comes to choosing hardware/software and there is no shame in being confused. Most people don’t go into the technical aspects, and choose the wrong stuff for their office. Instead understand that most of the hardware comes with its own software and try to find one that suits your purpose.

Beware of Wi-Fi Cold Spots:
If you are relying on Wi-Fi connectivity for your office, it is common to find that the reception or connection is poor in some areas. This could be near corners or parts of the building away from the wi-fi router. To correct this, place the transmitter
(wi-fi router) in a central position and use additional equipment to amplify the signal.

Malfunction of network applications:
It is common that after a lengthy installation of a computer network, some of the applications will just stubbornly refuse to respond. These could be due to faulty settings made at some stage in the installation. Ensure that while installing the network, all the computers are able to connect and all devices like shared printers are in working condition. Sometimes one or two special devices will refuse to join the network. This could be due to some software issue. Check if the software on both devices is compatible and re-install.

Assuming that tech support is not necessary:
It is quite possible that you may refrain from asking for technical support from professionals till there is an evident problem. It is highly recommended that tech support be consulted while installing a new network to ensure that it is set up correctly. This could help you in the long run by making the network not require constant maintenance.

Compromising on network security:
The security of a network is crucial and should not be taken lightly. If not properly secured with encryptions and firewalls, there is a high chance of misuse and even theft of intellectual property. Ensure that your network is protected and hack proof.

Avoid these common mistakes and you should be well on your way to setting up a computer network in your office.

Are you fed up of your inbox being loaded with unwanted junk emails? Do you miss the good old days when emails were exclusive, and receiving an email actually meant that there was something worth reading in your inbox? The following simple tips tell you how you can manage your emails, ensuring that spam stays out of the way.

The single most effective way to get rid of spam is to avoid giving your email address to unknown sources. This might be difficult, with most websites requiring users to provide a valid email address to move forward, and some even going to the extent of offering free merchandise or discounts in exchange for your email address. An easy way to cope with this is to have an alternate email id exclusively reserved for such purposes, and a separate one for friends and family.

You can also make use of your email application’s filter service to send emails from a specific source directly into your spam folder.

Avoiding an easy-to-guess email address is another effective way to stay safe from spammers. In most cases, these spammers do not go through the trouble of finding real email addresses from the net, but simply make guesses of obvious names, like say, michael92@xyz123.com.

Using the options of “unsubscribing” or being “removed from this list” should be exercised with caution. While it may seem like the easy way out, it could work against you in some cases. This is because requesting to unsubscribe tells the spammer that there is a real person at the other end, and that this is a valid email address. This could make you their target when they sell their lists to other spammers.

If you are willing to put some extra effort into curbing these spammers, you could report them to their ISP. The first step to doing this is determining the origin of the spam. You can easily do this by displaying the entire information in the email’s header. Working from top to bottom on the “received” lines could help you identify the spam’s origin. Most ISPs will block spammers from their service upon receiving the complaint.

Today, we cannot think of life without computers. Be it home or office or any public/ private organization, we need computers for performing our day to day operations. We not only keep our personal data on computers but also use them for business communication and fund transactions. This makes the security of computer systems extremely important. It is required to keep the computers secure for optimum utilization and to safeguard yourself against threats, especially when you are using a network. There are few steps which you require to perform for securing the system.

The first thing which you should do is to have a properly configured firewall and install a good anti-virus software. It is also a good practice to create back up of files into any external drives like CDs or USB devices. Regular backups make sure that the files will not get lost if there are any external attacks or if the system crashes. Also make sure that you purchase a genuine copy of the anti virus and have the anti virus updated from time to time. Do not download any software, games, MP3 or videos if you do not trust the source. There is a possibility that you may download a virus in your system. Always have a spam guard to protect yourself from unsolicited mails. Do make sure that you are aware of the phishing mails and do not open any attachments from mails that look like spam.

It is extremely important that you never share your personal information online and be aware of hackers. Give a remote desktop access only if you trust the other party. Make sure that you are constantly communicating with the other person and in case of any suspicious activity, discontinue the same.

Above all, it is very much important that you use an updated operating system and never share your passwords with anyone and do not use common words as passwords.

We at Centex Technologies provide wide range of solutions for computer system maintenance and security. For more information on how you can set up a secure computer system or work network, feel free to call us at 254-213-4740

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Author

Abdul Subhani

I am the President & CEO of
Centex Technologies Microsoft Small Business Specialist, Certified E-Commerce Consultant, Certified Ethical Hacker, Certified Fraud Examiner, Virtual Instructor and an IT Consultant/Speaker on IT Security, Networking, Small Business Architect, & SEO Internet Marketing.

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